This page last updated: 7 May 2008
 

YES and projects with several Yesmen	Jon Anderson	Chris Squire	Steve Howe	Alan White
Rick Wakeman	Bill Bruford	Tony Kaye	Peter Banks	Patrick Moraz
Trevor Horn	Geoff Downes	Trevor Rabin	Billy Sherwood	Igor Khoroshev
Anderson & Wakeman	Asia	Circa: (with White, Kaye & Sherwood)	Squire & White, but not Wakeman, at Ahmet Ertegün memorial	Others associated with the band

In a Nov 2007 interview, Bruford reflects on his future plans and the possibility of taking a sabbatical. He also re-affirms his commitment to jazz: "My interest in laying down a big beat ended with the last millennium. Happily jazz exists. Everyone hates 'jazz' but it's the only word to describe a musician who wants to say something fresh and react to what others are doing around him."

pianocircus with Bill Bruford
Bruford has been working with composer Colin Riley (MySpace page; Brunel Univ. page) and keyboard collective pianocircus (MySpace page; have worked with Brian Eno, Yumi Hara Cawkwell). Bruford and Riley met in the latter half of 2006. Their first public output was a show (described by Riley as more like an "open rehearsal") on 21 Sep 2007 in London. After an opening set by pianocircus, Bruford and pianocircus (4/6 of the usual group, performing on keyboards) performed 6 pieces by Riley (with some improvised parts), who conducted. There were about 50 people in the audience. Further warm-up gigs and a short tour this year are planned. The pair are also working on an album for release on Winterfold later this year. Audio samples can be heard at their MySpace page. Riley describes the work: "[it] will not only continue the sparse delicacy of recent electronic works, but also explore high-energy groove-based territory." In a Mar 2008 blog entry, Bruford described an "experimental day" with Riley, recording engineer Chris Lewis, and musician/digital technologist David Plans Casal (Brunel Univ. page). Read my new interview with Colin Riley about the collaboration here.

With Michiel Borstlap
Bruford's main live activity is currently his improvisational duo with Michiel Borstlap (piano, Fender Rhodes). They will be playing occasional European dates in the summer (UK shows on 1 and 10 May, Italy on 3 Jun, Spain on 12 Jul and the Netherlands on 30 Aug). In 2007, they did a French show in Oct and a UK and a Hungarian appearance in Nov. Extracts from their UK appearance were broadcast by BBC Radio 3's Late Junction programme. A Mar 2007 Newcastle show was mainly improvised, but with a few jazz standards (including Thelonious Monk's "Round Midnight" and Miles Davis' "All Blues"). A new Bruford-Borstlap album, In Two Minds (BBSF019), recorded live on 2007 dates, is out on Summerfold; tracks: "Kinship", "In Two Minds", "From the Source, We Tumble Headlong", "Flirt", "Low Tide, Camber Sands", "The Art of Conversation", "Conference of the Bees ", "Sheer Reckless Abandon", "Duplicity", "Shadow Dance", "The Odd One Out", "All Blues" (Miles Davis cover).

Clinics & other performances
Bruford played with jazz pianist Will Butterworth (MySpace page) in London on 2 Apr. On his website, Bruford described the gig beforehand as "of the research and development variety, which, translated, means it'll be well outside by comfort zone." After the show, he described it as "all improv, very loose, lot of fun". Chris Squire, Steve Hackett and Paul Stacey were all in the audience.

In Nov 2007, Bruford did a drum clinic tour of the eastern US and Canada. The clinics included Bruford playing, to backing tracks, extracts from: "Hell's Bells", "If You Can't Stand the Heat", "If Summer had Its Ghosts", "Beelzebub", "Indiscipline", "Footloose and Fancy Free", "B'BOOM", "Presto Vivace/In the Dead of Night". The New York clinic had an attendance of 600, the venue's most successful drum clinic ever. In Sep, Bruford appeared at DrummerLive 2006 with a similar arrangement: "Hell's Bells", "Beelzebub", "If You Can't Stand the Heat", "Indiscipline", a drum solo, a drum solo in 5/4, "B'Boom" (World Drummers Ensemble version), a "double trio" period King Crimson piece, "In the Dead of Night". He does a trans-Canadian drum clinic tour from 29 Apr to 10 May 2007. Just before then, Bruford made a solo appearance at the Cape Breton International Drum Festival (Nova Scotia, Canada) on 28 Apr (Alan White was also at the Festival that day). Bruford said in the aforementioned Apr 2007 webchat that he is giving "serious consideration" to doing a DVD of the clinics. He is also considering a clinic tour in Europe and had one in London in Nov.

Bill Bruford's Earthworks
Earthworks is currently on hiatus. In the aforementioned Nov 2007 interview, Bruford describes it thus: "It's parked up, refuelling. The key is still in the car and I can drive it any time but I do think you do need a clear idea of what you're doing when you play a concert." On his website timeline (perhaps written in Feb 2008), Bruford says of 2005: "Earthworks drifts artistically, as Bill remains uncertain as to its future development. Offers of concerts in far off places continue to arrive, but the band functions mostly on repertoire, and breaks little new ground." Of 2007, he says, "With Earthworks parked and re-fuelling at the twenty year mark".

Bill Bruford's Earthworks featuring Tim Garland was based around Bruford on drums and percussion and Tim Garland (Chick Corea, Dean Street Underground Orchestra) on saxophones, bass clarinet and flute. Most recently, the remainder of the band consisted of Gwilym Simcock (Acoustic Triangle) on piano and Laurence "Laurie" Cottle (ex-Tim Garland Quartet, ex-Eric Clapton, ex-Brian Eno, ex-Alan Parsons Project) on electric bass. The band played live in 2006/7.

Two DVDs, "Video Anthology Volume 1 - the 2000s" (BBSF016DVD; 14 tracks, 11 previously unavailable on video; dur. 1 hour 55 min.s) and "Volume 2 - the 1990s" (BBSF017DVD; all material previously unavailable on video; dur. 1 hour 25 min.s), both on Summerfold, are now out. Both releases are Region 0, NTSC encoded. All the material has been selected by Bruford. They are taken from shows in Tokyo, Japan in 1991, Stuttgart, Germany in 1991, Sofia, Bulgaria in 1999, New York, US in 2001, Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2002, and Paderborn, Germany in 2005. It appears that six numbers come from the last of these dates, including three new pieces; this will be the first release by a line-up with Simcock or Cottle. Volume 1 tracks: "Triplicity", "Original Sin", "Cloud Cuckoo Land", "Revel Without a Pause", "Bajo del Sol", "Tramontana", "Beelzebub", "Footloose and Fancy Free", "Libreville", "Highland Games", "Youth", "Song", "White Knuckle Wedding", "The Wooden Man Sings, and the Stone Woman Dances". Volume 2 tracks: "Up North", "All Heaven Broke Loose", "Psalm", "Old Song", "Stromboli Kicks", "Bridge of Inhibition", "Emotional Shirt", "Candles Still Flicker in Romania's Dark", "Nerve", "Pigalle", "Never the Same Way Once", "Some Shiver While He Cavorts", "Bridge of Inhibition". The 1990s volume mainly features the band with Django Bates and Iain Ballamy.

Re-issues and archival releases
Bruford's Summerfold and Winterfold Records have now agreed a distribution deal with Koch Entertainment in North America.

A sampler DVD with a lengthy interview with Bruford (done by Jon Kirkman) is now available. The DVD includes samples from releases by Bruford, Earthworks, Bruford-Borstlap and the World Drummer's Ensemble. 2000 copies of the DVD are available for free. To obtain a copy, while stocks last, e-mail bruforddvdoffer@googlemail.com with your full postal address. The sampler will also be included with the DVD release of Earthworks' "Footloose in NYC" (BBSF 020DVD) and can be viewed on Voiceprint's YouTube page.

"Footloose in NYC" was previously available as a companion to the 2CD Footloose and Fancy Free, but has now had an independent release. Extra features include behind the scenes footage and interviews.

Now out is the 43-minute DVD "Rock Goes to College" (produced by Bill Bruford; Winterfold BBWF008DVD; Region 0) of the Bruford band's 1979 BBC TV performance featuring Dave Stewart (keys), Jeff Berlin (bass), Allan Holdsworth (guitar), Annette Peacock (vocals; this being one of only two shows Peacock did with the group) and Bill Bruford (drums). Tracks: "Sample and Hold", "Beelzebub", "The Sahara of Snow (Part One)", "The Sahara of Snow (Part Two)", "Forever Until Sunday", "Back to the Beginning", "Adios a la Pasada (Goodbye to the Past)", "5G". The release was the fastest selling in Voiceprint's history. A CD of the show (BBWF009CD) followed.

The New Percussion Group of Amsterdam's 1986 Go Between (BBSF018CD), featuring Bruford and Keiko Abe, is out on Summerfold. Tracks: "Go Between", "Redbone", "Marimba Spiritual", "Maenaden". Bruford plays acoustic drums and percussion just on the 14-minute eponymous opener, composed by Rudd Wiener of the NPG. Wiener, Peter Prommel and Herman Rieken also perform on that track, all three playing xylophone, vibraphone, marimba and bass marimba. Abe just plays on "Marimba Spiritual".

Previously, Winterfold releases have generally come with a Summerfold sampler, and vice versa. However, this practice has ended. An Introduction to Summerfold and An Introduction to Winterfold are available for free (postage and packaging only) from Bruford's online shop. (Voiceprint are still selling them for £4.99).

As for future bonus tracks, in the May 2004 interview, Bruford says, "I have one or two strange bits and pieces up my sleeve and a fair amount of recorded live stuff. [...] I do have some very exciting playing from the Bruford group". In a Dec 2003 interview with Voiceprint radio, Bruford is asked whether he has any unreleased material in the archives for Winterforld. He replies:

Somewhat. The bands I'm in always tended to be playing new material, which [...] was likely to be recorded for some upcoming album. If that album never got made, then you find that that album is available in stocks... the material is available in some live concert. For example, the Stewart/Berlin/Holdsworth or John Clark group was working on a fourth studio album after Gradually Going Tornado, but it never got made. So there are some demos from rehearsal rooms and things which are just great and several tunes played live that were also very interesting. However, the only minor fly in the ointment back then of course is that the recording... bootleg recordings were pretty low quality. There's usually some guy just sticking up a cassette in a venue somewhere and not terribly great. And we didn't spend a lot of money recording things live all the time. Now, of course, with portable recording systems, everybody records everything. You record the rehearsal room. You record walking in to the rehearsal room. One of the nightmates in King Crimson was that everything was always recorded [...] The opposite problem occurred in the mid-seventies with Bruford, which was that almost nothing was recorded. So a lot of material went past, but we can, sure, find things and I'm sure you'll find the remastered and re-packaged material will come with interesting tunes of one sort of another or out-takes or some of that, I think.

Chris Squire's solo album Fish Out of Water, on which Bruford plays, has been re-released by Squire—see under Squire for details. Bruford also appears on some of Patrick Moraz' solo albums, now remastered and re-released—see under Moraz.

Phil Manzanera's website had described a possible archival collection entitled Rare Two including material with Bruford, but news of the release was withdrawn. In Apr 2003, bassist Bill MacCormick answered a question about the relevant sessions on the Phil Manzanera/Roxy Music forum saying:

Some of the early sessions for the Listen Now album [...] involved Bill Bruford + Phil, [Brian] Eno and me (not sure about Eddie [Jobson] though he certainly played on other sessions).  These tracks were never used though I believe Phil still has the 24-track masters somewhere.  Every now and then we talk about what we might do with them.  We haven't come up with an answer yet.

King Crimson Collectors' Club releases, consisting of varied archival Crimson material, are available via the DGM Shop. Bruford and Levin are on #26 Live in Philadelphia, 1982, #31 Live at the Wiltern, July 1, 1995 and #32 Live in Munich, September 29, 1982; Bruford is also on #29 Live in Heidelberg 1974. #36, due Nov, is Live in Kassel, April 1, 1974 and features Bruford. Various archival King Crimson (and ProjeKct) shows are available to buy for download through DGM Live. The Collectable King Crimson: Volume One (DGM) is a new double CD combining the previous KCCC release Live in Mainz, 1974 with Live in Asbury Park, 1974, also available as a download.

Bruford is on a number of King Crimson compilations. The (eventually 8CD) 21st Century Guide to King Crimson is a sort of replacement for the 1991 Frame by Frame compilation. Vol. One: 1969 to 1974 (DGM 0403) contains 4 CDs; Bruford is on the latter two discs: CD3 In The Studio: 1972-1974—"Larks' Tongues in Aspic Part I" (abridged, from Larks' Tongues in Aspic), "Book of Saturday" (Larks' Tongues...), "Easy Money" (Larks' Tongues...), "Larks' Tongues in Aspic Part II" (Larks' Tongues...), "The Night Watch" (Starless & Bible Black), "The Great Deceiver" (Starless & Bible Black), "Fracture" (Starless & Bible Black), "Starless" (abridged, from Red), "Red" (Red), "Fallen Angel" (Red), "One More Red Nightmare" (Red); CD4 Live: 1972-1974—"Asbury Park" (USA), "The Talking Drum" (The Great Deceiver), "Larks' Tongues in Aspic Part II" (USA), "Lament" (USA), "We'll Let You Know" (Starless & Bible Black), "Improv: Augsburg" (previously unreleased, concatenated with preceding track so does not show up as a separate CD track), "Exiles" (abridged, from USA), "Easy Money" (USA), "Providence" (The Great Deceiver), "Starless & Bible Black" (The Night Watch), "21st Century Schizoid Man" (USA), "Trio" (The Night Watch). Bruford also appears on DGM's new 2CD The Condensed 21st Century Guide to King Crimson (1969-2003). DGM are planning to release a DVD compilation of archive video footage of King Crimson, including previously unreleased footage.

Dust is a collection of rarities from Adrian Belew. While once planned as a boxset, instead the collection of 85 tracks is being released as a series of 72 downloads ("Dust particles") available from StoreBelew; the first three are already out, but subsequent tracks have yet to be announced. However, Dust was at one stage announced to include some archival King Crimson demo material with Bruford and Levin, including "Dust", an unreleased song from sessions for Three of a Perfect Pair; and an early version of "Heartbeat" and other outtakes from Beat.

Paul Amlehn's forthcoming feature film "The Tears of Eros" will use music from several Crimson and related projects, including THRaKaTTaK and the ProjeKcts. Shooting was due to begin in 2006.

UK
Out in Japan is Live in Boston (Universal), a mini-LP sleeve, limited edition release. This is a re-release of Concert Classics Vol. 4, the 1999 album on Renaissance that was withdrawn very soon after its release following legal action. The album features the original UK line-up, including Bruford. Tracks: "Alaska", "Time to Kill", "Only Thing She Needs", "Carrying No Cross", "Thirty Years", "Presto Vivace—In the Dead of Night", "Caesar's Palace Blues".

UK, also with Bruford on drums, as well as Danger Money and Night After Night from after Bruford's departure, are also being re-released in Japan. These have been remastered by Mark Powell, who has done remastered series for bands including Caravan, Camel, Van der Graaf Generator, Steve Hillage and Steve Hackett. They are due some time in 2008. Eddie Jobson has been critical of these releases—more details here.

Other news
Bruford guests on Returning to the Dark Side of the Moon, a forthcoming tribute album to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, organised by Billy Sherwood (and a follow-up to his Back Against the Wall)—details on main page.

Bruford blogged in Apr 2008 that he has started writing an autobiography. He has been in touch with possible publishers and the book is reportedly expected in late 2008 or early 2009.

Bruford and Dylan Howe guested together on The Jazz Jury on DAB radio station TheJazz, available to listen again online.

Bruford has contributed to the new and official Genesis biography "Genesis: Chapter and Verse", now out. (Bruford drummed with the band on their 1976 tour.)

Bruford is doing some teaching at the Academy of Contemporary Music (Guildford) and Kingston University.

Since Back Against the Wall, Kaye has been working on multiple projects with Billy Sherwood that also include further Yesmen and so are covered on the main page. These chiefly include CIRCA:, a new band project also with Alan White and Jimmy Haun; their debut album is out and the band hope to be touring in the latter half of 2007 and into 2008. Kaye also guests on a post-Conspiracy album by Sherwood and Jay Schellen. Kaye also played on Return to the Dark Side of the Moon, a tribute album to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, and its predecessor Back Against the Wall, as well as Led Box: The Ultimate Tribute to Led Zeppelin; all organised by Sherwood—details on main page.

On 24 May 2007, Kaye said on his MySpace blog that he has "been working on [a] project called End Of Inocence that is an orchestral interpretation of 9-11-2001." In an interview published Mar 2008, Kaye talks further about the project, saying:

I’m working on an instrumental album based on the events of 9/11. My wife co-wrote and sings on one of the songs. It’s mostly orchestral and I’d like to have an actual orchestra perform it, but they are very expensive.

Kaye's wife is singer Daniela Torchia (MySpace page). Her debut album Have No Fear was executive produced by Kaye, and produced by Brian Yaskulka and George Alayon. Kaye also plays keys on the song "I Promise You". Also appearing are Robin LeMesurier (ex-Rod Stewart; guitar), Cole Coleman (MySpace page; Davison/Coleman, worked with Circa:; guitar), Kevin Holmes (guitar), Joe Jewell (guitar), Jeff Hawley (guitar, bass), Willard Lozano (Flamenco guitar), Mike Bennett (drums), Morris Goldberg (sax), Glen Sobel (drums), JJ Kleutgens (bass). There is a Spanish-language version of the album entitled Sin Miedo. See Yescography for details.

On his MySpace page, drummer Paul Cassarino (stage production for CIRCA:) says he is, "Currently, working along side Tony Kaye [...] and his wife Daniela Torchia's solo project." I am unclear whether this is the 9/11 project, another album from Torchia or something else.

Kaye is also executive producing several new artists. He was playing piano, Hammond and synths in The Neil Deal, a tribute band for Neil Young and Crazy Horse based in Los Angeles, CA, but seems to have left in 2007. The rest of the band are Dennis Neil (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, harmonica), Jim Altman (ex-Steve Vai, ex-Eric Burdon; guitar, backing vocals), Bruce Spiegel (bass, backing vocals), Bert Wolf (drums). The band play regularly in California. Their live set included "After the Gold Rush", "Alabama", "Barstool Blues", "Cinnamon Girl", "Cortez the Killer", "Cowgirl in the Sand", "Down by the River", "Everybody Knows This is Nowhere", "Harvest Moon", "Heart of Gold", "Helpless", "Hey Hey My My", "Hurricane", "The Loner", "Long May You Run Mr. Soul", "Mansion on the Hill", "Needle and the Damage Done", "Ohio", "Old Man (Look at My Life)", "Only Love Can Break Your Heart", "Out on the Weekend", "Over & Over", "Powderfinger", "Rockin' in the Free World", "Sedan Delivery", "Southern Man", "Sugar Mountain", "Tell Me Why", "Walk On", "Welfare Mothers", "When You Dance I Can Really Love", "After the Garden". The band were recording a studio album; it is unclear whether Kaye will be on this.

"Snow White", a 1967 b-side by Winston's Fumbs, on which Kaye played, is included on the forthcoming 4CD boxset Real Life Permanent Dreams: a Cornucopia of British Psychedelia 1965-1970 (CMXBX1239, Castle Music (Sanctuary Records)), out in the UK.

Harmony in Diversity and Self-Contained
Harmony in Diversity is an improvisational trio with Peter Banks (guitar, MIDI guitar), Nick Cottam (Pulse Engine; bass) and Dave Speight (a.k.a. Jick; drums). Speight replaced Andrew Booker (Pulse Engine, Tim Bowness, Improvizone; MIDI drums, drums), who left the band in Jun 2006. The band's debut release is Trying, available only from their website; it features Banks, Cottam and Booker and largely consists of material recorded in late 2004, save for the last track recorded live in Jun 2005—details in Yescography. The new trio are compiling an album: Banks blogged in Apr 2008 about "the Harmony In Diversity project I have and the tracks are being worked on and assembled by H.I.D bassist Nick Cottam , who has done an outstanding job and continues to work on this up coming release." Sound samples from Trying and from recent shows with the new line-up can be heard at their website.

On 14 Jul, Banks updated the call on his MySpace blog:

 If you think you have what it takes , Pete Banks wants to hear from YOU !

Body: Diligence, tenacity, precision, a driven confidence, iconoclastic lateral thinking and er....stuff.

Pete Banks is looking to hear from musicians who like breaking rules, for his "Harmony In Diversity" project: the gigs will be 80% improvised, no prisoners will be taken. If you're interested in playing between the lines, If you are in the London area I would like to hear from you, call today !
44-776-694-42372

Harmony in Diversity played various European shows in 2007. A Feb 2007 show in Budapest, Hungary was recorded, either for a separate live release or material from it will be used on their forthcoming album. In Mar 2007, they played in Newport, Wales, courtesy of Islwyn Acoustic Guitar Club. (Streaming video from this show is now up on Banks' MySpace page.) The new line-up's debut was two English shows in Oct 2006 supported by Whimwise (led by Nick May, ex-The Enid). While the band's live performances were initially entirely improvised, they have introduced a prepared piece, an arrangement of a piece from The Two Sides of Peter Banks.

Banks is collaborating on a number of projects with Gonzalo Carrera (dB-Infusion, Whimwise, Karnataka, Wild Turkey; keys). They have been planning live work in London: they initially talked about a duo, Harmony in Diversity II, with the same improvisational ethos as its namesake. The pair are also planning live work as Self-Contained, playing rock instrumental material composed by Banks. In Apr 2007, Banks said he, Carrera and Dave Wagstaffe (Landmarq, Oliver Wakeman; drums) were planning some London gigs of composed material. Banks has also talked of wanting to assemble an instrumental band to play material from his 1990s solo albums: in a Nov 2006 interview, he said, "I'd like to put an instrumental band together and go and play my stuff, and do some covers of different songs and pieces, instrumentally, and put a whole different spin on it." In Apr 2007, Banks joined dB-Infusion (with Carrera) plus John Etheridge (guitar) for the last two pieces of their London show. In the audience were Wagstaffe, Chris Welch (author of "Yes—Close to the Edge") and Nick May.

Yes & related collaborations
Banks guested on Return to the Dark Side of the Moon, a tribute album to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon organised by Billy Sherwood—details on main page. In an interview for Guitar Player (Sep 2006 publication date, but conducted in the first half of the year), Banks says, "I may be doing something with former King Crimson violinist David Cross, and there are two potential projects involving former Yes personnel that I'm sworn to secrecy about for now." One of these Yes-related projects was probably a reference to early ideas around what became Circa: (with Sherwood, Tony Kaye and Alan White), but Banks ultimately was not involved with this. The other may have been writing with Jon Anderson.

Banks and Jon Anderson are writing some new material together—details also on main page. In Oct 2007, former Flash road manager George 'TheMiz' Mizer reported that "Pete [Banks] has givin up on a FLASH reunion [see next paragraph] at this time as he wants to be part of the YES 40th Anniversary in 2008". See main page for more on Banks and Yes. On the other hand, in an interview in Record Collector (circa Oct 2006), Banks said, "It's been suggested to me to do an album of Yes pieces, but why? I don't want to repeat something I did 200 years ago."

Flash
Banks and former Flash road manager George 'TheMiz' Mizer, through their production company AdequateSounds, are trying to arrange a release entitled In Public, an archival 16-track recording of a complete 1973 Flash concert recorded by the Record Plant. Banks blogged in Apr 2008 about the album, describing it as "a forth coming CD called FLASH "In Public" we have had many offers for a JAPAN release but this is worth a wider release. So we shall see what comes ." An edited version of one track ("There No More", a.k.a. "Room with a View", originally 18 min.s long) can be heard on Banks' MySpace page.

Syn
Banks left The Syn reunion: in an interview in Record Collector (circa Oct 2006), he says, "That was a bitter experience [...] the singer [...] was impossible."

Other news
Banks has been planning a project with singer Reggie King (ex-The Action). In a Nov 2006 interview, Banks talks of producing King and assembling a backing band: "I'm hoping to put a special band together, can't say too much about it because I've not spoken to Reggie about it. [...] I'm hoping to tempt him into the studio. It would involved people who played the Marquee in the late 60s, like Phil Collins, Chris Squire, Stevie Winwood, this kind of thing. But we're still discussing things."

Banks will be guesting on a number of tracks on the next studio album by Yesterdays, due spring 2008. (Banks' Harmony in Diversity were supported by Yesterdays at MiniProg Festival in Budapest in Feb 2007.)

In an interview in Record Collector (circa Oct 2006), Banks says, "I have almost enough material for a solo album too, but I'm not sure I want to release one, as I burned myself out on the previous one. If I did, it'd be live-in-the-studio with my wish-list of players. It's been suggested to me to do an album of Yes pieces, but why? I don't want to repeat something I did 200 years ago."

[Support this website by buying Return to the Dark Side of the Moon and other releases through Amazon (US or UK): go to the Where Are They Now? Amazon listings page.]

Some while back, Banks recorded parts for three tracks on Ant-Bee's planned album Electronic Church Muzik (as Billy James, Ant-Bee co-wrote Banks' autobiography "Beyond and Before"). Other guests include Daevid Allen (Gong), Gilli Smyth (Gong), Jan Akkerman, Napoleon Murphy Brock (ex-Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention; vocals), Don Preston (ex-Mothers), Bunk Gardner (ex-Mothers), Rockette Morton (ex-Capt Beefheart's Magic Band), Zoot Horn Rollo (ex-Capt Beefheart's Magic Band), Moogy Klingman (ex-Todd Rundgren; keys), Roger Powell (ex-Todd Rundgren; keys) and members of the the Alice Cooper Group. At last report, Ant-Bee (a.k.a. Billy James) is still working on the album.

Banks was interviewed (circa Nov 2006) for a documentary about Pink Floyd's Meddle album. He said in the aforementioned Nov 2006 interview that he wanted to write another book: "not a biography, about music in general and the way I view it now and the way it was. I'm pretty opinionated and want to get it out of my system."

Peter Banks has a MySpace page. This may feature some archival recordings Banks has, including The Syn live in the 1960s.

Around May 2007, Moraz recorded a solo show for XM Radio, with a set including new material written for this show. The recording was being mixed in May, with broadcast to follow in Jun on XM Fine Tuning (channel 76). In an Oct 2006 interview with the Francophone Yes fanclub, Nous Sommes Du Soleil, Moraz talked about possible live work in the US, Japan, UK and the Netherlands. In a Feb 2007 interview, Moraz talked of his desire to play live with a band and that he was rehearsing for live performances, but he did not seem to have any specific plans for shows. Moraz had said that Vega Music, a Japanese label who are re-releasing Moraz's solo album Resonance there (see below), would like to bring him to Japan for both some piano and electronic concerts. In a interview for Innerviews published in May 2007, Moraz talked about what material he might play live, describing delving deep into his back catalogue with material from Mainhorse, Refugee ("like "Papillon" or a bit of "Credo.""), The Story of i, Out in the Sun, Future Memories, and "even" Timecode. He adds, "Perhaps I'll play some Moraz-Bruford pieces like "Children's Concerto" as well" and that he "might consider playing something from Yes like "Soon"".

Moraz has done music for a forthcoming DVD release called "Transmuteo" by Jean-Luc Bozzoli; trailers featuring Moraz' music are now online. In his interview for Innerviews, Moraz expands:

it’s a story made up entirely of visuals and music, with no story or words. [...] The music will have a very symphonic approach and some of the pieces are very emotional.

My friend Ahmin Bhatia just asked me if I would participate on one of his projects celebrating 60 years of analog synthesis. He’s going to recreate a huge piece by Ravel and is inviting several keyboardists to take part. I said if I have time, I will do it. However, my time is currently being spent in Los Angeles working on film scores and it’s very satisfying.

Moraz and Ronnie Ciago (percussion) have been working on an album together. Moraz has also been recording with drummer John Wackerman (Chad Wackerman's brother, ex-Kazumi Watanabe).

Moraz played on sessions for bassist Dave LaRue (The Dixie Dregs, John Petrucci) for a second solo album which has yet to appear.

Longer term plans
Moraz has talked of multiple further projects, but many of these appear to be some way from producing any output. He has plans for a third "Future Memories" show, which he discusses in a new interview on a forthcoming DVD release of the first two "Future Memories" TV programmes (see below).

For some years, Moraz has been working on an "electro-ethnic" solo album, A Way to Freedom. In an interview circa May 06 (Notes from the Edge #299), Moraz said:

A WAY TO FREEDOM seems to be taking a long time to come out. It's not the lack of material, but more about the inherent inertia which has surrounded the project from the beginning. I have lots and lots of recorded material already, but I never seem to be able to put the finishing touch to the production as a whole. Especially now that I have all these [re] releases [...] coming out [see below] [...] It is still a work in progress and I cannot announce its release yet. But it will come out in the not-too-distant future.

Moraz has expanded "Modular Symphony (1st Movement)" from his 1987 Human Interface album into an entire piano conerto, which he intends to release at some point according to a Mar 2005 interview.

Although he has no immediate plans, in his Mar 2005 interview, Moraz talked of his willingness to do a video or film project based on his solo album The Story of i. In his NftE interview (Jan 2001), he said, "I've also been writing and researching some stories. I'd like to do a movie of THE STORY OF I either in 3-D computer graphics, an animated version, or the real thing. I have also written a couple of other movie scripts; one is a science fiction story and the other is about the life and times of a composer who lived three hundred years ago." In an earlier interview (Oct 2000), he said: "I have just about 30 other projects that I have already composed, I've composed hundreds of pieces of music in the last 9 years. [...] I have also, maybe, studying to get a commission for a symphony orchestra perhaps in europe for next year [2001]." At some point, he has been planning to do a charity Christmas album.

In the 2005 interview, Moraz mentioned too his desire to do some live shows with flautist Syrinx to play music from their album Coexistence/Libertate, although again there are no specific plans at present. Moraz has said he may collaborate with Annie Haslam in the future.

Re-releases and previously unreleased archival material
Voiceprint are releasing remasters of much of Moraz' back catalogue through their and Moraz' new TimeWave label. The first two albums in the series were the eponymous releases by Mainhorse (IDVP001CD) and Refugee (IDVP001CD). These were followed by Moraz' solo albums:

• Story of I (IDVP003CD; bonus tracks "Cachaca Variations" and "Cachaca's Children's Voices")
• Out in the Sun (IDVP004CD; bonus track "Batucada")
• Patrick Moraz III (IDVP005CD; bonus track "Excerpt from Museeka Mageeka")
• Coexistence/Libertate (with Syrinx; IDVP006CD; bonus track "Working Jam with Patrick Moraz and Syrinx")
• Timecode (IDVP007CD; bonus tracks "No Sleep Tonight Remix" and "Black Brains of Positronic Africa Remix")
• Future Memories Live on TV (IDVP008CD; bonus track "Paris in a Bottle")

Future Memories II (IDVP009CD; bonus tracks "A Moment in New York" and single version of "How Basic Can You Get")
• Human Interface (IDVP011CD)
• Future Memories I & II (IDVP010CD; bonus track "Here Comes Christmas Again (Et Revoici Noel)"; alternate version of "More Tea, Vicar")

"Live in Princeton" (VPDVD31) is a remastered DVD, now out; tracks: "Aural Contact I/Sacrifices", "Soul Eternal", "Aural Contact II/Initiation", "Lost Way", "Cachaça", "Isle of View", "Oral Contact: Shout!", "Talisman" (including "Caravan" theme by Duke Ellington), "Caprice of the Gods", "Blue Monk" (originally by Thelonius Monk), "Intro/The Best Years of Our Lives", "The Story of i" (1975 promo film). Also now out is "Future Memories Live on TV", a DVD of the TV programmes "Future Memories" (now in stereo as opposed to the original mono broadcast) and "Future Memories II". Tracks: from "Future Memories I" (recorded 1979)—"Black Silk", "Eastern Sundays", "Metamorpheses"; from "Future Memories II" (recorded 1982)—"Flippers", "Heroic Fantasy", "Satellite", "Pilots' Games", "Navigators", "Video-Games (How Basic Can You Get?)", "Chess", "After the Year After"; interview with Jon Kirkman (dur. 41:58). The "Future Memories I" TV programme realisation was by François Jaquenod, from a scenario by Moraz and Jaquenod; sound engineer: Jean Ristori. "Future Memories II" was recorded by Barry Radman and Ristori, except "Video-Games" by Gregg Jackman (worked with Yes and  Chris Squire); TV-play by Moraz and Jaquenod.

In 1989, Moraz was working on a follow-up to Human Interface for Cinema Records. At the same time, he was renting his studio out to guitarist Kazumi Watanabe, who was recording his solo album Kilowatt with Bunny Brunel (bass), John Wackerman (drums), Wayne Shorter (ex-Miles Davis, ex-Weather Report; sax) and others. Many of these musicians played on sessions for Moraz' album, while Moraz also played on Kilowatt. The deal with Cinema Records fell through, but, according to his 2007 interview for Innerviews, these sessions "will form the basis of [an] album that will come out soon." Moraz refers to recording with Watanabe, Brunel, Wackerman and Alex Ligertwood (ex-Santana, ex-Brian Auger; vocals), while in a Mar 2005 interview, he had also talked about Shorter being on the recordings.

In an Oct 2006 interview with the Francophone Yes fanclub, Nous Sommes Du Soleil, Moraz was asked whether there might one day be a release of a Dec 1987 live-in-the-studio performance in support of Human Interface. Moraz replied yes:

Oui, celui-là j’en ai le master sur DAT et je vais le mastériser avec Jean Ristori dans les semaines à venir. Bien que la partie électronique de la musique soit très similaire à l’album de studio de « Human Interface », ayant tout joué « live » en direct,  avec l’aide d’ordinateurs et de « midi » cependant, le son lui, est plus « urgent », peut-être un peu moins sophistiqué que sur l’album de studio, et les tempi sont dans certains cas plus rapides ! Et puis les lignes improvisées sont évidemment différentes de celles de l’album de studio. [...] J’ai retrouvé des enregistrements inédits de pièces pour pianos préparés que j’avais enregistrés ultérieurement et que j’ai mis en bonus sur le CD.

In separate developments, Chris Squire's solo album Fish Out of Water, on which Moraz and Bruford play, was re-released by Wounded Bird Records and is being re-released with bonus material by Squire's Stone Ghost Records—see under Chris Squire.

[Support this website by buying the Moraz remasters and other releases through Amazon (US or UK): go to the Where Are They Now? Amazon listings page.]

Refugee
Refugee consisted of Moraz (keys), Lee Jackson (The Nice, ex-Jackson Heights; bass, vocals) and Brian Davison (The Nice; drums). Voiceprint, within their series of Moraz releases, have re-released the band's only contemporary album, Refugee (IDVP001CD), plus the live Refugee CD, Live in Concert - Newcastle City Hall 1974 (VP421CD), one of the band's earliest concerts, sourced from tapes held by Davison and fully endorsed by the band. The set was mainly drawn from the album, but with some further pieces played: "Outro - Ritt Mickley", "One Left Handed Peter Pan" (previously unreleased Refugee original), "The Diamond Hard Blues Apples of the Moon" (originally by The Nice), "Someday", "Papillon", "She Belongs to Me" (originally by The Nice), "Grand Canyon Suite", "Refugee Jam" (previously unreleased original). The CD booklet includes several photos from the gig and liner notes by Martyn Hanson.

In his 2007 interview for Innerviews, Moraz says that he is "not ruling out regrouping Refugee either. I'm in touch with Lee Jackson and Brian Davison every few weeks and we're talking about maybe doing a couple of reunion shows in Europe." However, sadly Davison died on 15 Apr 2008.

Trevor Horn Official site; SPZ website; ZTT Records website
The Producers Official site; MySpace page
The Producers consists of, as the name suggests, various producers: Trevor Horn (bass, vocals), Steve Lipson (worked with Grace Jones, S Club 7, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Annie Lennox, Will Young; guitar), Lol Crème (Art of Noise, ex-10cc; guitar, vocals), Chris Braide (Malmo, written for Glenn Tilbrook, Clay Aiken, Will Young, Kylie Minogue, S Club 7; keys, vocals) and Ashley 'Ash' Soan (Rick Wakeman's English Rock Ensemble, Enrique Iglesias, ex-Del Amitri, ex-Squeeze; drums). The band began recording their debut album in Dec 2006 at Hook End Studios. Studio 1 is due on Stiff Records (a sister label to ZTT); in Mar 2008, the band announced they had finished mixing the album. The debut single is "Barking Up the Right Tree" (3:21; Crème on lead vocals, Horn on double bass), backed with "Freeway" (5:55; Braide on lead vocals; originally announced as the debut single), out on CD (Stiff Records, CDBUY270). Both songs can be heard on their their MySpace page and at the Stiff Records website. There is also a video for "Barking...", a hand-drawn animation by Crème. (A teaser video for "Barking Up the Right Tree" and "Freeway", produced by Lol's son, Lalo Crème, can be seen at Braide's MySpace page here.) The band is managed by Luke Mitzman (Lipson's stepson).

The single was co-written and co-produced by all five of the band. Album tracks: "Freeway", "Waiting for the Right Time", "Watching You Out There", "Your Life" (Horn on lead vocals), "Barking Up the Right Tree", "You and I", "Stay Elaine", "Man on the Moon" (Braide on lead vocals), "Music From BelAir" (inspired by Horn's time as a homeowner in California). A song entitled "Seven" (in 7 time about an escort agency, with Horn on Vocoder) was played live; I presume it is included under some other name. Gary Langan (ex-Art of Noise, worked with Yes) is mixed and engineered. "Barking Up the Right Tree" is also included on the 4CD The Big Stiff Box Set (SALVOBX402).

The band played in London on 22 Apr 2008. A 5-date UK tour was planned for Oct 2007, but, according to one report, it was cancelled save for the opening London night. The set then was: "Two Tribes" (instrumental, originally by Frankie Goes to Hollywood), "Invisible" (originally by Braide), "Waiting for the Right Time" (from Studio 1; Braide on acoustic guitar and lead vocals), "Rubber Bullets" (originally by 10cc; Crème on lead vocals), "Music from Bel Air" (from Studio 1; Horn on acoustic guitar and lead vocals), "Freeway" (from Studio 1, which Horn introduced under its original title of "Driving"), "Into the Great Wide Open" (originally by Tom Petty; Horn on lead vocals), "Your Life" (from Studio 1; Horn on lead vocals), "Barking Up the Right Tree" (from Studio 1), "Man on the Moon" (from Studio 1; Braide on lead vocals and keys), "Seven" (from Studio 1; Horn on lead vocals and Vocoder, including Soan drum solo), "I'm Not in Love" (originally by 10cc; Braide on lead vocals and keys, Crème on keys), "Video Killed the Radio Star" (originally by The Buggles; with comedy bossa nova intro), "Watching You Out There" (from Studio 1; live debut), medley: "Space Oddity/Highway 61/Everybody Wants to Rule the World". "You & I" (from Studio 1) was also played, but I forget where it came in the set list. An encore of "Get Back" (originally by The Beatles) was planned, but not played due to lack of time. Support was by Charity Hair (The Ailerons).

On 24 Jul, the band played the Jazz Cafe in Camden, London; set: "Two Tribes" (instrumental, originally by Frankie Goes to Hollywood), "You & I" (new song from Studio 1; live debut), "Waiting for the Right Time" (from Studio 1; live debut), "Barking Up the Right Tree" (from Studio 1), "Music from Bel Air" (from Studio 1; live debut), "Rubber Bullets" (originally by 10cc), "Your Life" (from Studio 1), "Invisible" (originally by Braide), "Freeway" (from Studio 1), "Man on the Moon" (from Studio 1), "Seven" (from Studio 1; live debut), "I'm Not in Love" (originally by 10cc), "Video Killed the Radio Star" (originally by The Buggles); encore: "Slave to the Rhythm" (with guest Tina Charles on vocals; originally performed by Grace Jones). One of the new numbers had Crème on bass, with Horn on vocals. Support was by Mia Silva. In an interview in Apr 2007, published in the Jul issue of Future Music, Horn said they might do more Buggles numbers at a future show, including "Living in the Plastic Age".

Their debut live show, with Luis Jardim (percussion) and various guests, was at the Camden Barfly in Nov 2006. The idea was that Horn, Lipson, Crème and Braide each picked two of their favourite songs and two of their own songs; set "Two Tribes", "Into the Great Wide Open" (lead vocals by Horn, originally by Tom Petty), "Invisible" (lead vocals by Braide, originally by Braide), "Elstree" (originally by The Buggles), "Do It Again" (originally by Steely Dan), "Only Living Soul" (with guest vocalist David Jordan, who co-wrote the song with Braide), "Rubber Bullets" (lead vocals by Crème and backing vocals by Horn/Braide; originally by 10cc), "Space Oddity" (lead vocals by Horn, including on Vocoder; originally by David Bowie), "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" (lead vocals by Braide; originally by Tears for Fears), "Nutrocker" (with guest Anne Dudley on keys), "Get Back" (lead vocals by Braide, originally by The Beatles), "Slave to the Rhythm" (with guest vocalist Bruce Woolley (ex-The Buggles, ex-Grace Jones); originally performed by Grace Jones), "Donna" (lead vocals by Crème and backing vocals by Horn/Braide; originally by 10cc), "Superman Lover" (with guest vocalist Will Young), "I Love You More Than You Will Ever Know" (with guest vocalist Will Young), "This is the Night" (with lead vocals by Braide; originally performed by Clay Aiken), "Video Killed the Radio Star" (lead vocals by Horn, with backing vocals by Woolley; originally by The Buggles), encore: "I'm Not in Love" (lead vocals by Braide with Crème on keys; originally by 10cc), "Gimme Some Lovin'" (originally by Spencer Davis Group). Virgil Howe and the Pet Shop Boys' Neil Tennant were in the audience. It was after this initial show that they decided on writing new material and releasing an album. They played the Barfly again on 7 Feb 2007 (pictured), again with Jardim; set: "Invisible", "Rubber Bullets", "Into the Great Wide Open", "Freeway", "Get Back", "Only Living Soul" (with guest vocalist David Jordan), "I Want You Back" (originally by The Jackson 5, with Jordan singing Michael's part, Horn Jermaine's part, Braide Jackie's part and Crème Tito's part), "Space Oddity/Highway 61", "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", "Owner of a Lonely Heart" (lead vocals by Braide, backing vocals by Horn), "Slave to the Rhythm" (with guest vocalist Lucinda Barry), "Video Killed the Radio Star", "Superman Lover" (with guest Jamie Cullum—lead vocals, keyboard solo; Horn on additional vocals), "Barking Up the Right Tree" (lead vocals by Crème, backing vocals by Horn/Braide, and Braide and Lipson on acoustic guitars), "I'm Not in Love" (Braide on lead vocals, Crème on keys, Horn on electric guitar), "Gimme Some Lovin'" (Horn and Braide share lead vocals). Support was by Lucinda Barry (harp, vocals); Chris Squire and Virgil Howe were in the audience. They returned to the Barfly on 25 Apr; set: "Two Tribes" (instrumental), "Invisible", "Into the Great Wide Open", "Rubber Bullets", "Your Life" (lead vocals by Horn), "Freeway", "Space Oddity/Highway 61", "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", "Get Back", "Slave to the Rhythm" (with guest vocalist Olivia Safe (La.Mia.Bocca, Bjorn Casapietra, New Average, ex-"Phantom of the Opera")), "Barking Up the Right Tree", "Man on the Moon" (lead vocals by Braide, Crème on keys), "Owner of a Lonely Heart", "I'm Not in Love", "Video Killed the Radio Star" (with guest backing vocals from Debi Doss, who sang on the original). Support was by Charity Hair.

Pet Shop Boys
Horn produced the Pet Shop Boys' Fundamental (Parlophone); tracks—all written by Tennant/Lowe unless otherwise stated: "Psychological", "The Sodom and Gomorrah Show", "I Made My Excuses and Left", "Minimal", "Numb" (written by Diane Warren, originally intended for the PopArt compilation but not used), "God Willing", "Luna Park", "I'm with Stupid", "Casanova in Hell", "Twentieth Century", "Indefinite Leave to Remain", "Integral". See details in Yescography. A special edition version includes a second disc (Fundamentalism) with 8 remixes: "Fugitive (Richard X extended mix)", "Sodom (Trentmoller remix)", "Psychological (Alter Ego remix)", "Flamboyant (Michael Mayer remix)", "I'm with Stupid (Melnyk mix)", "In Private (Stuart Crichton club mix)", "Minimal (Lobe remix)", "Gomorrah (Dettinger remix)". Fundamentalism is also available over two 12"s, but with a different remix of "Minimal", "Minimal (Tiga's M-I-N-I-M-A-L remix)". The Japanese Fundamentalism bonus disc includes both "Minimal" remixes and "I'm with Stupid (PSB Maxi-Mix)". Exclusively available through iTunes are demo versions of "I'm with Stupid" and "Sodom..." before Horn's input. Anne Dudley (Art of Noise) also worked on the album, as did Virgil Howe (drums, percussion) and Skaila Kanga (ex-Jon Anderson; harp). The album has gone Gold in the UK, were it peaked at #5 (#1 on the album dance chart). It also made the top ten in Denmark and Switzerland, and the top twently in Sweden and Finland. It made the US electronic chart's top five too.

"I'm with Stupid" was the first single (chart details below) while the second was "Minimal" (peaking at #19 in the UK and #3 on the US Dance Club Play chart). "Numb" was the third single (UK peak #23), in an edit with new production by Horn. B-sides on various formats include a new dance mix of "Psychological" by Ewan Pearson and a live version of "West End Girls" from Concrete on which Horn plays (see next paragraph).

'I'm with Stupid' single chart performance

Country/chart	Peak chart position
UK	8 (14 May 2006)
US dance airplay	12
US dance club play	7 (7 Oct 2006)
Canada	4
Australia	23
Denmark	3
Sweden	10 (week 20, 2006)
Finland	3 (week 20, 2006)
Ireland	23 (11 May, 2006)

Concrete (Parlophone/EMI) is a 2CD live album out in the UK (no US release planned). It is a recording of an exclusive London show on 22 May 2006 by the Pet Shop Boys with the BBC Concert Orchestra (conducted by Nick Ingman) with Horn (bass, musical director), Dudley (keys, piano), Phil Palmer (ex-Tina Turner; acoustic guitar), Steve Lipson (The Producers, ex-Grace Jones, ex-Frankie Goes to Hollywood; guitar), Paul Robinson (ex-Buggles;drums), Lol Crème (The Producers, Art of Noise, ex-10cc; backing vocals), Andy Caine (backing vocals), Lucinda Barry (backing vocals), Sylvia Mason-James (ex-Robbie Williams, ex-Chicane; backing vocals), Sally Bradshaw (opera singing), Pete Gleadall (programming) and guest vocalists. Tracks: "Left to My Own Devices", "Rent", "You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk", "The Sodom and Gomorrah Show", "Casanova in Hell" (with Rufus Wainwright), "After All", "Friendly Fire" (with Frances Barber), "Integral", "Numb", "It's Alright", "Luna Park", "Nothing has been Proved", "Jealousy" (with Robbie Williams), "Dreaming of the Queen", "It's a Sin", "Indefinite Leave to Remain", "West End Girls". The album made #61 in the UK.

The Pet Shop Boys' Disco Four, now out, includes "Integral (PSB Perfect Immaculate mix)" and "I'm with Stupid (PSB Maxi-mix)". In conjunction, "Integral" was released as a download single (making #197 in the UK chart), with a physical version released only as a promo. Meanwhile, Ewan Pearson's re-mix of "Psychological" is included on his album Piece Work, is also out.

Further production and solo work
Horn has produced Set the Mood, the debut album from David Jordan for ZTT/Mercury Records, now out. Tracks: "On the Money", "Place in My Heart", "Sun Goes Down", "Set the Mood", "Love Song", "Move On", "Sweet Prince", "If I'm in Love", "Glorious Day", "Only Living Soul" (co-written with Chris Braide (The Producers)), "Fight the World". The album peaked at #98 in the UK. "Place in My Heart" was the lead single, with remixes by Joey Negro and StoneBridge; there is also a music video. The second single, "Sun Goes Down", was in the UK chart at #22 (#15 on the download chart) and is predicted to break the top ten on 2 Mar. Musical director for David Jordan's band is Paul Sayer (also guitar), while also working on the album have been Braide, Steve Lipson (The Producers), Louis Read (ProTools) and, on "Sun Goes Down", Piers Gibbon (Jew's harp). Drums are probably by Ollie Boorman.

Vocalist Fiona Renshaw (MySpace page; worked with Lisa Stansfield, Kubb, Mr. Scruff) has recently recorded some vocal sessions with Horn and Lol Crème (The Producers, Art of Noise, ex-10cc), although for what project is unknown. She's also signed to Horn's publishing company Perfect Songs.

This is Hazelville (EMI) is the debut album from five-piece band Captain (MySpace page) and produced by Horn. The band are Rik Flynn (vocals, guitar), Clare Szembek (vocals, piano, percussion), Mario Athanasiou (guitar), Reuben Humphries (drums, piano) and Alex Yeoman (bass). The 11-track album debuted at #23 in the UK chart (20 Aug), but was out of the top 40 the next week. Tracks: "Hazelville", "Glorious", "Broke", "East, West, North, South", "Frontline", "Build a Life", "Wax", "This Heart Keeps Beating for Me", "Western High", "Summer Rain", "Accidie". There are two iTunes exclusive tracks: "Why Wait" and "Kennedy". The first single, "Broke", was released in May in the UK and reached #34; you can hear it at their MySpace page. See details in Yescography. The second single was "Glorious", which made #30 in the UK, while the third, "Frontline", made #62. The band play live in the UK.

Captain have played live in support of The Delays (including Greg Gilbert on vocals and his brother Aaron Gilbert on keys) and Horn has also been working with them. The first single from their new album You See Colours (Rough Trade, RTRAD214, produced by Graham Sutton, see details in Yescography) was 'Valentine', arranged and mixed by and with additional production and vocals by Horn. See details in Yescography. "Valentine" peaked at #23 in the UK singles chart, with You See Colours making #24 in the album chart. Another new band with links to Captain and the Delays is Ghosts and they have signed to Perfect Songs, Horn's publishing company.

Horn has been working with Enrique Iglesias on an album, at one point expected in Nov 2005, but delayed. Geoff Downes has played on two tracks of the project, including a cover of Cutting Crew's "(I Just) Died in Your Arms Tonight".

A partial Frankie Goes to Hollywood reunion played the 2004 Produced by Trevor Horn show and dates in 2005. The line-up consisted of past members Peter "Ped" Gill (drums), Mark O'Toole (bass), Paul Rutherford (vocals) and Jed "Mondo" O'Toole (electric guitar), plus Ryan Malloy (ex-"Jerry Springer—The Opera") on lead vocals. Horn was involved from the beginning of the reunion, helping the band select Malloy as their new singer in a televised contest, and he was announced as to produce a new album, due 2007. However, following a dispute with former band member Holly Johnson over the Frankie name, Gill, Rutherford, J. O'Toole and Malloy formed a new band, Forbidden Hollywood, to play their new songs along side old Frankie Goes to Hollywood material. This band fell apart in Jun 2007 with the acrimonious departure of Malloy. The band's management are planning to continue working with Gill and Rutherford on a possible new project for 2008, but there are no indications that Horn will be involved.

Reports are unclear, but it appears that Horn produced the Sugababes' "Overload 2004", an updated version of their UK hit. That song or another produced by Horn was set to appear in the film "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason", but the Sugababes do not appear on the soundtrack and a single release for "Overload 2004" was cancelled. It is unclear whether the song will ever be released.

In a Yahoo chat in Oct 1999, Horn wrote: "I'm writing a musical [...] about Robots." In an interview circa Oct 2007, Horn says he was approached to produce Mika, but turned down the offer. In an Apr 07 interview, lead singer/guitarist Dan Gillespie-Sells of The Feeling said: "I'm a big fan of his [Trevor Horn], and he's not doing the album with us, but he's doing a track with us. I don't want to commit to a producer for an album, but I do certainly want to do a track with Trevor. We're working with him as soon as we get back to London, just really to experiment and have some fun and see what he comes up with." However, in a Feb 2008 interview, Gillespie-Sells explianed, "We know Trevor and had wanted to work with him but once we got going we knew we wanted to do it ourselves." Note also that the band released a cover of "Video Killed the Radio Star" as a b-side to the single "Rosé" in Feb 2007, and are performing the song on ITV1's Guilty Pleasures on 8 Mar 2008.

[Support this website by buying This is Hazelville and other releases through Amazon (US or UK): go to the Where Are They Now? Amazon listings page.]

Produced by Trevor Horn: 25^th anniversary celebration
Produced by Trevor Horn was a celebration of Horn's career on the 25th anniversary of The Buggles' The Age of Plastic, his first major release, encompassing a charity concert recorded for DVD and a compilation album (see in Yescography). The live concert was held in Nov 2004 in aid of The Prince's Trust charity. The line-up consisted of artists who have been produced by Horn and both Yes and The Buggles appeared. The show was recorded (and overdubs done, it seems) for a DVD release. A Region 2 release came in Japan first as "Produced By Trevor Horn: The Best 25 Years of Pop" (Geneon Entertainment). A US release under that title was announced (Clear Channel Entertainment Home Video 00110-7, distributed through Ventura Distribution; dur. 2 hours 40 minutes), with bonus material to include backstage footage, interviews and "Frankie Say Reform" (the documentary about Frankie Goes to Hollywood's search for a new singer), but did not appear and its status is unclear. The show was broadcast on HDNet (US TV). A 2-hour UK release through ZTT has been announced for 2 Jun under the original, intended title of "Slaves to the Rhythm". The Japanese release has songs out of order compared to the evening's perfomances and seems to omit Dollar's "Mirror Mirror" entirely. The cover of the UK release lists all 13 acts (including Dollar), so seems more complete.

There was a 'house band' for much of the evening, which varied somewhat, but included Horn (bass, backing vocals), Dudley (Art of Noise; keys), Geoff Downes (keys), Jamie Muhoberac (ex-Seal; keys), Lipson (electric guitar), Robinson (ex-Buggles; drums), Alan White (drums), Lol Creme (The Producers, Art of Noise, ex-10cc; acoustic guitar, backing vocals), Palmer (ex-Tina Turner; acoustic guitar), Luis Jardim (ex-Asia;percussion), Bruce Woolley (ex-Buggles, ex-Grace Jones; backing vocals, guitar), Tessa Niles (worked with The Buggles; backing vocals), Barry (backing vocals), Debi Doss (worked with The Buggles, The Kinks, Pet Shop Boys; backing vocals), Linda Allan (worked with The Buggles; backing vocals), Andy Caine (backing vocals) and an orchestra (conducted by Nick Ingman (worked with Jon Anderson), string leader Gavyn Wright, horn leader Steve Sidwell). Tim Weidner (produced Magnification) was also in attendance, while orchestral sound was by Greg Jackman (worked with Chris Squire, Steve Howe). The acts were:

• The Buggles: "Video Killed the Radio Star", "Living in the Plastic Age"
• Dollar (with house band): "Mirror Mirror", "Give Me Back My Heart"
• Belle & Sebastian: "I am a Cuckoo", "Come Into My Office, Baby"
• Grace Jones (with house band): "Slave to the Rhythm"
• Art of Noise (including Horn, White, Dudley): "Close (to the Edit)"
• Propaganda (Claudia Brücken/Michael Mertens/Ralf Dörper/Susanne Freytag with house band): "Das Testament des Dr Mabuse"
• ABC (with Dudley): "Poison Arrow", "All of My Heart", "The Look of Love"
• Yes (Chris Squire—bass, White—drums, Trevor Rabin—guitar, vocals, Steve Howe—guitar, Downes—keys, Horn et al.—backing vocals): "Cinema" (Downes on Keytar), "Make It Easy" intro/"Owner of a Lonely Heart" [Squire, White and Downes were seemingly involved in mixing "Owner of a Lonely Heart" for the DVD]
— intermission —
• Pet Shop Boys (with Sally Bradshaw): "Left to My Own Devices", "It's Alright"
• Lisa Stansfield (with house band): "Takes a Woman to Know"
• t.A.T.u. (with house band—Horn and Creme both on bass): "All the Things She Said"
• Seal (with house band): "Killer", "Kiss from a Rose" (new arrangement), "Crazy"
• Frankie Goes to Hollywood (Ped Gill—drums, Mark O'Toole—bass, Paul Rutherford—vocals, Jed O'Toole—electric guitar, Ryan Malloy—lead vocals, with Steve Lipson—electric guitar, Luis Jardim—percussion et al.): "Welcome to the Pleasure Dome" (with Howe—lap steel), "Two Tribes", "Relax" (with Horn—backing vocals).

The Buggles
Horn and Downes were discussing the possibility of reforming the Buggles. In his blog for 20 Jun 2005, Downes wrote, "I was supposed to have a meeting with Trevor Horn and Jill in London today, but [...] we did it remotely. [...] It's just about a new Buggles album we've been talking about for some time and maybe to coincide with the 25th year anniversary next year of MTV." As well as appearing at the Produced by Trevor Horn show in Nov 2004, thought has also been given to further live work. An article in Jul 2004 in The Independent (UK newspaper) reported that "The idea for reforming Buggles for a belated tour emerged when [Horn] performed "Video Killed the Radio Star" at a Belle and Sebastian concert in Los Angeles last year [2003] and the audience went wild. [...] no decision has yet been made on a full tour because of the cost, leaving the Wembley concert [of 2004] as possibly the only option for older pop fans to see Buggles perform live." At the Produced by Trevor Horn concert, Horn said his original idea had been a low-key Buggles tour. Downes also previously hinted at the possibility of live Buggles work, saying in an interview in early 2004: "The Buggles was much more a studio environment idea, which we never actually took on the road. Things may change though - watch this space later this year [2004]!"

ZTT were promising a remastered release of the second Buggles album, Adventures in Modern Recording, in 2005 including all the original b-sides and a new interview with Horn, but this has not appeared.

The reunited Asia, including Downes, are playing The Buggles' [SPOILERS—highlight to read] "Video Killed the Radio Star" in their set—see details on main page.

Art of Noise
In the Apr interview for Future Music, asked about whether the Art of Noise will be doing anything new, Horn said, "We keep talking about it." He also describes how they worked on a "visual sampler" before The Seduction of Claude Debussy: "So when you hit a note, you get a picutre as well as sound. [...] there's about a 20 minute video that Lol Creme did, and I'm going to put it on DVD."

Now out, And What Have You Done With My Body, God? (ZTT) is a 4CD box set about the early Art of Noise. The set includes a 36-page booklet with track-by-track commentary by Horn and the other four original members, Anne Dudley (ex-ABC), Gary Langan (worked on 90125), JJ Jeczalik (worked on 90125), Paul Morley. Tracks: disc 1: The Very Start of Noise—"Beat Box (One Made Earlier)" (2:18), "Once Upon a Lime" (3:21), "War (Demo 2)" (1:27), "Close to the Edge" (2:19; the title is a reference to the Yes song of the same name on which this piece was loosely modelled; Alan White plays drums), "Confession" (1:02), "Moments in Love" (7:52), "Sign of Relief" (1:27), "Who's Afraid of Scale" (4:36), "So What Happens Now (Take 2)" (4:23), "The Subject has Moved Left" (1:43), "It's Not Fair" (4:27), "Close to the Edge (Ruff Mix)" (5:54), "A Time for Fear (Who's Afraid?)" (4:33), "Moments in Bed" (6:11), hidden track (0:55); disc 2—Found Sounds and Field Trips: "Moments in Love (12" B Side Idea)" (3:10), "Tears Out of a Stone" (2:56), "Samba #2" (0:39), "The Chain of Chance" (4:36), "Fairlight-in-the-Being" (4:37), "Diversions 3" (3:53), "Close (to Being Compiled)" (3:47), "Diversions 5" (3:46), "Damn It All!" (1:42), "Structure" (1:13), "The Angel Reel: Hymn 1 (Take 2)" (0:36), "The Angel Reel: Hymn 3" (1:20), "The Angel Reel: Fairground" (0:43), "And What Have You Done with My Body, God?" (4:40), "Klimax" (1:48), "Who Knew?" (2:36); disc 3—Who's Afraid of… Goodbye (partly an alternate version of Who's Afraid...): "War (Demo 4)" (4:39), "The Focus of Satisfaction" (11:01), "Moments in Love (7" Master Rejected)" (3:44), "It Stopped" (4:27), "The Uncertainty of Syrup" (1:21), "The Long Hello" (4:34), "The Vacuum Divine" (0:47), "The Ambassador's Reel: Beat Box" (3:54), "The Ambassador's Reel: Medley" (10:56), "The Ambassador's Reel: Oobly" (1:20), "Goodbye Art of Noise" (0:37), hidden track (1:06); disc 4—Extended Play: from the 'Into Battle with the Art of Noise' EP—"Battle" (0.25), "Beat Box" (4:48), "The Army Now" (2:02), "Donna" (1:44), "Moments in Love" (5:08), "Bright Noise" (0:05), "Flesh in Armour" (1:24), "Comes and Goes" (1:18), "Moment in Love" (1:25); from the 'Close (to the Edit)' cassingle—"That Was Close" (23:47, consisting of "Diversion Eight"/"Diversion Two"/"Closest"/"Close-Up"/"Close (to the Edit)"/"Closed"); from the 'Moments in Love' cassingle—The Tortoise And The Hare: "Moments in Love (from Battle to Beaten)" (14:27), "Love Beat" (5:15), "In Case We Sneezed" (0:31), Besides Close—"A Time to Hear (Who's Listening)" (3:41), "(Do) Donna (Do)" (3:20); hidden track (0:25).  Disc 1-3 consists of previously unreleased material, including from the original Who's Afraid... demo tapes, and Anne Dudley has collated fragments into a set of finished pieces (including "It's Not Fair" and "It Stopped"). Disc 4 consists of the full 'Into Battle with the Art of Noise' EP and 'Close (to the Edit)' and 'Moments in Love' cassingles, released on CD for the first time.

ZTT have also produced a new, limited edition, promo-only sampler CD (ZTT202CD) in unique slip-case artwork taken from the box set, shipped free with orders over £10 placed at the ZTT shop. It has 12-tracks, including "Once Upon a Lime" and "Close to the Edge".

Other news
ZTT are planning an anniversary Frankie Goes to Hollywood release with rarities. Frankie Goes to Hollywood's "Relax" (produced by Horn) is included on the 2CD collection North By North West: Liverpool & Manchester from Punk to Post-Punk & Beyond 1976-1984 (Korova), compiled by Paul Morley (Art of Noise). (A 3CD limited edition version is also available.) The Best is a new compilation from t.A.T.u. including work produced by Horn from their first English-language album, 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane. The new Barry Manilow compilation Greatest Songs of the Seventies (Arista) includes a Trevor Horn dance mix of "Could It Be Magic". I presume this is from the 1993 re-recording of the song that Horn produced (see in Yescography).

A Jul 2004 article in The Independent (UK newspaper) reported Horn as saying "that he knows he will have to give up producing some day because the hours are "just crazy"." The article goes on to quote Horn directly: "It's a tough game being a record producer. I've always worked very hard and very intensively. I've never left anything to chance."

Horn's music business concerns are complex, but there is SPZ Holdings Ltd., which then owns Sarm Studios (who operate recording studios and manage record producers and engineers), Perfect Songs (music publishing company) and ZTT Records Ltd. (record label; MySpace page). In Jun 2007, it was reported that Horn is selling Hook End Manor, his Oxfordshire mansion and recording studio, but also the site of a tragic accident that left his wife, Jill Sinclair, in a coma.

Geoff Downes Official site; Official online store; MySpace page

Asia
The Four Original Members of Asia
The original Asia line-up—namely Downes (keys), Steve Howe (guitar), John Wetton (ex-King Crimson, ex-UK; bass) and Carl Palmer (ex-Emerson, Lake & Palmer; drums)—have re-united, are on a world tour and have a new album, Phoenix, now out. Details are on the main news page.

Icon
The Wetton/Downes collaboration Icon (after the name of their first album) is continuing in parallel to their work together in Asia. (In a Mar 2006 interview, Downes said, "It's important to point out [...] that the Icon stuff is quite a different approach [...] So this is Icon, this is Asia. There are really two quite different styles we address to each one.") The pair have been working towards a third Icon studio album. In his Apr 2007 blog, Downes refers to writing material with Wetton, but it is unclear whether this is for Asia or Icon. In the official Frontiers Records newsletter (Mar/Apr 2008), there is an interview billed as with Asia but seemingly specifically with Downes. The band are asked whether there will be further Icon albums; 'they' reply, "Probably."

Icon's planned tour Germany, the Netherlands and the UK in Nov 2007 was cancelled due to Wetton's health problems—details under Asia. With Asia touring the next month, Icon were going to not play anything from the first two Asia albums (which constitute the bulk of Asia's current setlist). Instead, they were going to play Icon material plus songs from Yes (particularly Drama), UK and King Crimson. The live band was to include Christey, Mitchell and McDowell (cello). International touring appears to be planned for around Sep 2008: a 12 Sep date in Glasgow is being advertised.

Their second album, Icon II: Rubicon (Frontiers Records, FR CD 309), is out in Europe, Japan (on Marquee/Avalon Records) and the US (on Renaissance Records, RMED-0802). Tracks: "The Die is Cast", "Finger on the Trigger", "Reflections (Of My Life)", "To Catch a Thief", "Tears of Joy", "Shannon", "The Hanging Tree", "The Glory of Winning", "Whirlpool", "Rubicon". The album was recorded with familiar Wetton/Downes collaborators, Steve Christey (John Wetton Band, Jadis; drums), John Mitchell (Frost*, John Wetton Band, Arena, Kino; guitars) and Hugh McDowell (ex-ELO). Guests include Anneke van Giersbergen (ex-The Gathering; vocals) and Katie Jacoby (Paul Green's School of Rock All-Stars; violin). "Tears of Joy" is co-credited to Eddie Jobson as it is based on "[t]he last song EJ and I were working on , many years ago," explained Wetton. See Yescography for details.

Never in a Million Years (Frontiers Records, FR CD 306; duration: 60:27) is a live album, on Marquee/Avalon Records in Japan and Renaissance Records in the US. The album was taken from live touring in 2006. It appears that the content comes from more than one show; tracks include "Pane Bruno", "The Heat Goes On", "Only Time will Tell", "Voice of America", "I Lay Down", "Days Like These", "Bolero", "Meet Me at Midnight", "Never in a Million Years", "We Move as One", "Paradox/Let Me Go", "Don't Cry", "Open Your Eyes", "The Smile Has Left Your Eyes" (recorded at a Roland Virtual Icon show in Germany with pre-recorded contributions from Hugh McDowell on cello).

Prior Asia line-up & Asia Featuring John Payne
The prior Asia line-up had consisted of Downes (keys), John Payne (bass, vocals, guitars), Guthrie Govan (guitars) and Jay Schellen (Conspiracy, Billy Sherwood, World Trade, ex-Peter Banks; drums). In early 2006, Downes and Payne dissolved their partnership, and Payne, Govan and Schellen formed GPS (official mailing list), joined by Ryo Okumoto (Spock's Beard) on keys. GPS released a 10-track album, Window to the Soul (InsideOut IOMCD 247), all music credited to Payne/Schellen/Govan. In May 2007, Payne (with Govan and Schellen) also announced the formation of Asia Featuring John Payne (MySpace page), with Erik Norlander (ex-Ayreon) announced in Nov 2007 as the band's keyboardist.

In late 2005/early 2006, Downes, Payne, Govan and Schellen had been working on a new Asia album for InsideOut, to be called Architect of Time, with tracks including "City of Lost Angels" (described in a Nov 2005 press release as "an up tempo 6 minute proggy track"), "Written on the Wind" (a "power ballad"), "I Believe in Yesterday" ("emotive piece with interesting key changes") and "Since You've Been Gone" ("a pumping big chorus hook, could be the lead track"). Although Downes is not credited on the album, some of this material was recycled for Window to the Soul. For example, the last three of those songs appear on the GPS debut. In an Apr 2007 interview, Payne said:

Interviewer: Were some of the songs on ‘Window To The Soul’ originally planned as Asia songs?

Payne: Yes, some of the songs were originally written for Asia. If they had been recorded as Asia songs, they would have been shorter with bigger harmonies and smoother production. We decided that, with a few days rehearsal, these songs could be made to sound very different to Asia songs. About 50% of the songs were actually written for ‘Architect Of Time’.

Interviewer: If it had been completed, how would ‘Architect Of Time’ have sounded?

Payne: It would have been basically in the style of previous Asia albums but we had made an attempt to stretch the songs a bit longer and to make the sound more retro, a bit more seventies. The actual track ‘Architect Of Time’ was completed with Ryo playing keyboards, though I don’t know if it will ever be released. It’s a very long track, about eight or nine minutes long. Maybe one day it will be released.

[...] [Schellen] was very keen to play in different time signatures. Jay is very influenced by UK, so I imagine ‘Architect Of Time’ would have been a mixture of classic Asia and UK.

In an Apr 2008 interview, Norlander's comments suggested a long-term future was planned for Asia Featuring John Payne:

Voiceprint are also distributing a John Payne compilation album, Different Worlds (Devgel Records, DEVGEL2CD). Tracks: "Under the Gun" (from Aura), "Song for You" (from Lunatica's The Edge of Infinity), "Different Worlds" (from Anthology), "Ready to Go Home" (from Aura), "One of These Nights" (from CCCP's Let's Spend the Night Together), "Arena" (from Arena), "The Last Time" (from Aura), "The Longest Night" (from Aura), "Long Way from Home" (from Silent Nation), "Feels Like Love" (from Aria), "Wherever You Are" (from Aura), "Written on the Wind" (from GPS' Window to the Soul), "Ride the Storm" (from the "Riders of the Storm" soundtrack). (With the Asia tracks, I have listed the albums on which they were initially released. Subsequent live versions have also been released and I do not know which versions are included here.) Of course, Downes appears on all the Asia tracks, as does Steve Howe on "The Last Time" and Tony Levin on "Ready to Go Home".

Acoustic & Electric (Fuel Records) appears to be a re-release of or to use tracks from Live at the Town and Country and Live Acoustic, two previous Payne-era live albums.

In his Jan and Feb 2007 blog entries, Downes describes a project of "short pop-songs" with his friend, long-time collaborator and lyricist Ben Woolfenden. They "are looking for a few killer vocalists to do this work justice (hopefully) and finish it all off."

Again in his Feb 2007 blog, Downes describes a new project also involving Tony Levin (bass), Michael Holmes (IQ), Nick D'Virgilio (Spock's Beard, ex-Genesis), Thomas Lang (ex-John Wetton; drums), Rob Aubrey (worked with Wetton/Downes; engineer). Downes writes:

[In Feb] We [Downes, Holmes & Aubrey] were working on a few tracks that they have been putting together at their respective studios. At the moment it's what you might call a 'virtual' project, with people sending in their stuff/parts from all over the World. [...] It's a fairly interesting but low-key kind of project, and the material - quite different and unusual, but at the moment is still very much a kind of 'work-in-progress' type of thing. Any of you prog-heads out there will probably love it all and lap it up

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